---
title: "Overview"
---

**Pipy** is a programmable network proxy for the cloud, edge and IoT.

It's written in C++, which makes it extremely lightweight and fast. It's also fully programmable by using _PipyJS_, a tailored version from the standard JavaScript language.

## Why Pipy?

### Versatile

Although Pipy is mostly used as a high-performance reverse proxy, the real power of Pipy relies on providing you a range of basic pluggable building blocks, aka. "_filters_", and not imposing any restrictions on how you combine them. It's entirely up to you. We've seen people using Pipy to convert protocols, record network traffic, sign/verify messages, trigger serverless functions, health-check servers, and more.

### Fast

Pipy is written in C++. It leverages asynchronous network I/O. Allocated resources are pooled and reused. Data is transferred internally by pointers whenever possible. It's fast in every way.

### Tiny

A build of Pipy with no built-in GUI frontend resources gives you an executable merely around 10MB with zero external dependencies. You'll experience the fastest download and startup times with Pipy.

### Programmable

At the core, Pipy is a script engine running PipyJS, a tailored version from ECMA standard JavaScript. By speaking the planet's most widely used programming language, Pipy gives you unparalleled freedom over what you have in other products based on YAML configuration files and the like.

### Open

Pipy is more open than open source. It doesn’t try to hide details in a black box. You'll always know what you are doing. It might sound a bit daunting but fear not, it doesn’t require a rocket scientist to understand how the different parts work together. In fact, you’ll only have more fun as you have complete control over everything.

## Where to Start?

### Quick Start

If you are new to Pipy, head over to [Quick Start](/getting-started/quick-start) for a first glance about how you start using it.

### Concepts

After getting your feet wet, reading through [Concepts](/intro/concepts) will give you a solid foundation in understanding a few key concepts that you would frequently come across while you read through the rest of the documentation.

### Tutorial

Now that you have the whole picture in mind, follow the steps in [Tutorial](/tutorial/01-hello) and enjoy your journey. It's going to be fun!
